Wednesday, April 23, 2014

The Journey

I save critters. A lot of them. Everything from ants to cockroaches (yes, but only a few) to baby squirrels, to baby possums, to cats and dogs. I'm a bit of an Ellie Mae Clampett. I like that about me.

The other day when I was driving through Zilker Park I spied a turtle on the side of the road. I had a few thoughts go through my head, and they went like this:

"Oh, little turtle, don't try to cross the street."

"Oh, gee, if I stop I'll be super late to where I'm going."

"You're going to hate yourself if you don't go back."

"OK, OK, I'm looping around."

All that dialogue took about ten seconds and I was to the spot where I could loop around. And I did. I pulled past the turtle, got out of my car, and walked back to where it was...exactly where I'd seen it. I was hopeful as I approached, but as I got to it it was clear that it had already been mortally wounded, long before I'd first passed.

As it was positioned just a foot or so off of the road I decided that being right near the road while cars zoomed past while baking in the heat was just too awful. I picked this beautiful creature up and carried it down to a quiet spot near some water. It was already dead so perhaps there was no point, but I told the red slider what a lovely creature it was and wished it well on its journey.

2 comments:

Kali, you did the right thing. You stopped safely, not endangering yourself or other drivers, you had the intention to save the animal (which, of course, would be to transport it safely across if it were going in that direction), and you removed the dead turtle from a place where it could cause an accident from someone stopping not as safely. It was a sweet thought, too--perhaps a human tradition, but that's okay--to return it to a lovely place. Thank you.

ABOUT ME

My name is Kali Parsons and I absolutely love to paint. I paint almost every single day and have been doing so since 2011. I use a wide range of media including acrylic, watercolor, ink, charcoal, and collage. I'm inspired by both wonder and challenge and hope to bring joy and provoke deep thought with my work. My original work is available on my Daily Paintworks site and prints are available on my Etsy site. I frequently sell my art to fund raise for organizations close to my heart. Please subscribe to my blog if you'd like to receive my blog via email.
- Kali